BioterrorismRestoring subways in the event of a bioterrorist attack

Only a week after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, envelopes containing anthrax spores were sent to several media companies and two senators. As a result, twenty-two people were infected and five died. Since these incidents, the U.S. has increased its efforts on measures countering bioterrorism. That incident stemmed from spores sent to individuals and offices where the reach was somewhat contained. Imagine if the spores had been taken onto a mass transit platform — like the subway. A subway incident can bring a whole city to a halt, and the effects can last much longer in the form of lingering fear and mistrust.

Only a week after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, envelopes containing anthrax spores were sent to several media companies and two senators. As a result, twenty-two people were infected and five died. Since these incidents, the U.S. has increased its efforts on measures countering bioterrorism. That incident stemmed from spores sent to individuals and offices where the reach was somewhat contained. Imagine if the spores had been taken onto a mass transit platform…like the subway. A subway incident can bring a whole city to a halt, and the effects can last much longer in the form of lingering fear and mistrust.

S&T says that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) completed in September 2017 a four-year Underground Transport Restoration project in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Consequence Management Advisory Division (CMAD) and National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC). S&T and EPA conducted studies and performed exercises to see how disease-causing microbes spread through subway systems; how they can be sampled and cleaned; and how long it takes to be cleaned.

“The purpose of the project is to help develop the tools and techniques necessary for the rapid return of service to the subway system after it has been contaminated with a biological organism such as Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis), while reducing the impact on humans and the environment,” said Shannon Serre, chemical engineer and manager of the project at EPA.

The initial work started in late 2011; lab experiments launched in 2013, and three field study events were completed between 2015 and 2016.

The first field event was at Sandia National Laboratories in California. In a subway car wrapped in plastic, EPA and S&T placed samples of various interior subway-car materials with spores of non-disease causing anthrax used for vaccination. “This strain mimics more closely the toxic strain used in the 2001 anthrax attacks, which is difficult to inactivate,” said Serre. “If we can kill B. anthracis, we can kill other pathogens such as the Ebola virus.”